My first Stan! Stanhopea saccata

[SaraJean]

Meet my first little Stan
After browsing all of the gorgeous pics of these lovely stans on here, I picked up this little Stanhopea saccata on eBay. I also ordered a Stanhopea graveolens and a tigrina 'SanBar Black on White' from Santa Barbra Orchid Estate but they can't safely ship to me till early October :sigh:

So on arrival, I potted it in sphagnam in a 4" net basket that is resting in a clay pot (I'm clean out of basket hangers). There was little new growth when I unboxed it and I just noticed three more little nubbins, and some roots, popping out. I am assuming this is probably 2 years from blooming, maybe one of you know better than I.
I'm keeping it moist but not soggy, and growing it with my light loving bulbophyllums high up under an 80% shade cloth, so no direct light, that gets sun from 10:30-3:30.

How does this sound? Any suggestions?

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

80 pct shade is too dark to foster good growth on stanhopea. I grew mine with not more than 50 pct shade and they did great, in baskets with sphagnum moss. Let the foliage shade of green guide you, you're looking for a light olive green. Do not let the moss dry up and feed heavy when in active growth...

[isurus79]

I agree with Ben. That sounds too dark.

[SaraJean]

I have a 50% shade cloth I could try out? What sort of light do you grow yours in? Right now the leaves are about that shade but I've only had it two weeks. Are these one those genera that can take higher light in the winter?

[Manfred Busche]

If you can give your Stanhopea plants 'dappled light', they will love it. They perhaps will need to acclimatize.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by SaraJean

I have a 50% shade cloth I could try out? What sort of light do you grow yours in? Right now the leaves are about that shade but I've only had it two weeks. Are these one those genera that can take higher light in the winter?

Can you hang it in a tree? Winter light is weaker than summer light, so it should be able to take more.

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Can you hang it in a tree? Winter light is weaker than summer light, so it should be able to take more.

Unfortunately no real trees in my courtyard except my banana trees which are not the most ideal for hanging :/
But I will start with the lesser of the 2 shade cloths and maybe later in the season, move it to the somewhere under the bananas that gets a good amount of dappled light from the palms waving around.

Thanks!

[Optimist]

I saw a really cute dyi orchid "tree" once on this site. If anyone was the author or can retrace it, that would be nice! Anyway, an old branch, fairly big, with lots of branching areas, can be put in, a bucket of sand, or have some kind of frame work, and that could be used to hang orchids off, like in a patio. In fact, I think this orchid "tree" was on a patio somewhere like Taiwan, or Japan, Malaysia or somewhere Any one know?

[dounoharm]

Originally Posted by Optimist

I saw a really cute dyi orchid "tree" once on this site. If anyone was the author or can retrace it, that would be nice! Anyway, an old branch, fairly big, with lots of branching areas, can be put in, a bucket of sand, or have some kind of frame work, and that could be used to hang orchids off, like in a patio. In fact, I think this orchid "tree" was on a patio somewhere like Taiwan, or Japan, Malaysia or somewhere Any one know?

I just got my old epi oxypetalum from my mom in nc....it had a hard trip, and lost almost all the leaves (which I have rooting, if anyone wants some) anyway, it is up on a bench in an enormous pot. the branches or stems left are 4-5 feet long. as it grows, I am going to train it thru the rafters....this will be a 'shade canopy' to hang under!

it takes years to grow one this big, but, heck, why not?





it has made many new leaves, and I hope to have blooms this summer....can you imagine the scent when they open at night?

[Dollythehun]

I had a huge one but it froze before the great freeze of 2016. They are amazing, if you have space.